Merson - who proved so influential for Boro back in 1998 when they returned to the Premiership at the first time of asking - has come in for a bit of stick this season for some wayward scorecasts and a perceived habit of picking against the Teessiders.

But the 48-year-old reckons Boro will give their Premier League survival scrap a boost at the Riverside with a narrow home win over the Hammers.

Pundit Merson leaned towards Boro in his prediction column on the Sky Sports website, even though West Ham thrashed Crystal Palace 3-0 in their last game.

Merson expects to see a 1-0 Boro win, which is 11/2 with his Sky Sports employers’ affiliate betting website Sky Bet.

Merson wrote: “For 70 minutes against Palace, West Ham weren’t very good. Then they got the first goal and the confidence flooded back into Slaven Bilic’s side.

“However, Boro are very tight at home and don’t let in a lot of goals. They are very hard to beat in front of their own fans.”

Pundits making positive predictions for Boro's game against West Ham, who will be unable to call upon star man Dimitri Payet